The present invention relates to an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, a panty liner, an incontinence napkin for the absorption of urine and excrement or faeces and intended to be carried in the crotch region inside the wearer""s underwear, wherein the article has two long sides, a first short side, a second short side, a liquid-permeable casing sheet which is intended to lie proximal to the wearer in use, a liquid-impermeable casing sheet intended to lie distal from the wearer in use, an absorbent core comprising one or more material layers and disposed between said sheets, an adhesive fastener means for fixing the articles in the wearer""s underwear and disposed on that side of the liquid-impermeable casing sheet which lies distal from the wearer in use, and a removable protective layer that covers the adhesive fastener device and which has a first short side that faces towards the first short side of the article and a second short side that faces towards the second short side of said article.
Conventional absorbent articles of the aforesaid kind traditionally have a relatively large surface area, in other words they cover the whole of the crotch region and then often all body orifices of the wearer in that region. A contributory factor to the size of the article is the amount of body liquid or fluid that the article must be capable of absorbing over a determined time period, and also the material from which the article is constructed and its method of construction. The size of the article is also adapted to whether or not it shall be used for the absorption of more than one type of body fluid at one and the same time. Another reason for the size of the article is that it shall present a surface of sufficiently large area to minimise the risk of positioning the article incorrectly in the panties of the wearer. Incorrect positioning of the absorbent article will cause the liquid to land on the edge regions of the article so as to make optimum absorption of liquid into the article impossible, said liquid then either running over said edge regions or failing to land on the article at all, resulting in soiling of the wearer""s underwear.
Articles of smaller sizes have been produced in recent times, partly to enhance wearer comfort when using the article, and partly in response to higher user demands for more discrete articles when wearing tightly fitting clothing. It has been possible to reduce the size of such articles with the advent of more effective absorption materials, and the articles have been constructed to fit more closely to the body of the wearer, so as to obtain contact between the article and a wearer""s body orifice, which enables the liquid to be absorbed very early in the product, before the liquid is able to run over an excessively large surface. Articles that present a small surface are traditionally panty liners, panty liners adapted for string panties, sanitary napkins that have been given a more body-corresponding format and therewith need not necessarily extend far beyond the body orifice concerned, and inter-labial protectors. Articles that present a three-dimensional surface which is intended to be placed between labia is normally not difficult to position correctly, as the elevation on the upper side of the article is adapted to fit in the labia interspace. Some women, however, prefer a flat absorbent article to the option of carrying a labium protector. When this flat article has a small surface, it is difficult to secure the article in its correct position in the wearer""s panties relative to the body outlet orifice. The traditional procedure adopted when using articles that include adhesive fastener devices that are covered with protective layers is to remove the protective layer from the adhesive fastener, direct the article towards the place in the panty which is believed to constitute the correct relationship with the contemplated outlet orifice, and pull up the panties. If the article is felt to be wrongly positioned, the wearer pulls down her panties and repositions the article. This irritates many users. Another drawback that can occur when being forced to reposition the article in the wearer""s panties is that the adhesiveness of the fastener device may be impaired by virtue of small fibres having fastened from the panties onto the fastener device so as to impair the adhesiveness of said device, wherewith the article may crinkle and give rise to chafing and irritation of the wearer. In some instances, the adhesiveness of said device may be impaired to such an extent as to prevent fastening of the article, meaning that a new article must be used.
It is known, for instance from WO 96/33683, to use a glue-coated protective device that is adapted to be fastened directly to the body, with the aim of facilitating placing articles in correct positions in relation to a particular body orifice. However, some people question the attachment of articles to their genitals with a skin-adapted adhesive, and are frightened to do so, because they are afraid that this will give rise to a greater degree of enclosure/increased humidity in the region of the article and will be more irritating than articles that include a more traditional fastening system, i.e. articles that include adhesive intended to be fastened to the wearer""s panties.
The object of the present invention is to provide an absorbent article of the kind mentioned in the introduction, that can be readily placed in the correct position in the wearer""s underwear and that will eliminate the risk of impairment of the adhesiveness of the fastener device in the event of needing to reposition the article in the wearer""s underwear.
This object is achieved with an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, a panty liner, an incontinence napkin for absorbing urine or faeces, which is intended to be worn in the crotch region within the underwear of the wearer, and which includes two long sides, a first short side, a second short side, a liquid-permeable casing sheet intended to lie proximal to the wearer in use, a liquid-impermeable casing sheet intended to lie distal from the wearer in use, an absorbent core disposed between said sheets and including one or more layers of material, an adhesive fastener device which functions to affix the article in said underwear and is disposed on that side of the liquid-impermeable casing sheet that lies distal from the wearer in use, and a removable protective layer which covers the adhesive fastener device and which has a first short side facing towards the short side of the article and a second short side which faces between the second short side of the article, wherein said adhesive article is characterised by a grip flap that is connected to the first short side of said protective layer and which extends towards and beyond the second short side of said protective layer on that side of said layer which faces away from the liquid-impermeable casing sheet. The grip flap enables the user to remove the protective layer when the panties have been almost completely pulled up, which enables the user of the article to determine very easily whether or not the article has been positioned correctly.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the grip flap is comprised of an extension of the protective layer. According to another embodiment, the extension of the protective layer comprises a separate part that is fastened to the protective layer at the first short side of said article.
In a further embodiment of the inventive article, said article is, in addition, also provided with a high friction fastener device, for instance a touch-and-close fastener or foamed material, or an adhesive material that has low adhesion. The purpose of this additional fastener device is to enable the article to be secured to the article and held in its correct position in the user""s underwear during the time that the user grips the grip flap and pulls the protective layer away from the adhesive fastener device after having pulled up her panties.